Satellite picks up pace

KOLKATA: Rajarhat is a satellite city of Kolkata, which was planned in the 1990s. According to the master plan, it was supposed to be at least three times larger than Salt Lake City, a neighbouring well-established destination. Between 2003 and 2008, Rajarhat witnessed a lot of interest from various national and regional developers. Then the global financial crisis came, after which most of the plans either got stalled or pace of execution reduced considerably.

However, over the past two-three years, construction activity and rentals at Rajarhat have started picking up once again, albeit at a slower pace.

Rajarhat is divided into two regions - the planned town and surrounding areas. The majority of residential projects in the planned town are high-rise buildings. The surrounding areas have low-rise residential projects. Most of the buyers are either end-users or long-term investors with a view to earning rental income. While speculative investment activity in this region has been limited, this is expected to grow with growth in surrounding areas.

The Rajarhat sub-market has witnessed interest from various national and international developers for house projects, some of which are DLF, Unitech, Tata Housing, Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Keppel Magus. In addition, regional developers such as Shrachi Group, Belani Group, Shrishti Group and Bengal DCL are also present. A few prominent projects in this location include Uniworld City, DLF New Town Heights, Tata Eden Court, Rosedale NRI, Sankalpa and SP Shukhobrishti, which is a mass housing project. Quality development and better amenities help residential properties in the planned town fetch better valuations than the surrounding areas.

Rajarhat enjoys good road connectivity with the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass and Belghoria Expressway, connecting it to the southern and northern parts of the city. The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is close to Rajarhat and well-connected to the sub-market. Work on the Metro railway is in progress. This can connect Rajarhat to the airport and further to the southern part of Kolkata city.

Work on another metro route is also in progress, connecting Salt Lake with central Kolkata and Howrah. In addition, a couple of expressways and flyovers are also proposed, which can improve the overall connectivity of this sub-market.

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KOLKATA: Last month, the State Bank of IndiaBSE -0.18 % took over a housing project in Kolkata because the developer had defaulted on repayment of dues to the tune of Rs 176 crore. The Teen Kanya project was promoted by the Bengal Shelter Housing Development, a joint venture in which the state housing board has 49% stake. Therefore, its repossession by the SBIBSE -0.18 % has come as a shock for the 400-odd families that have invested in the project.

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